﻿CPR trainer saved by CPR at American Heart Association office

A woman suffered a cardiac arrest while attending a meeting about CPR training at an American Heart Association office, where she was revived thanks to CPR and quick-acting emergency responders.

The Kentucky woman had traveled to the emergency cardiovascular care volunteer meeting in Charleston, West Virginia, on Monday – during National CPR and AED Awareness Week.

About 30 minutes before the meeting, others in attendance saw the woman suddenly slump over in her chair. They lowered her to the ground and found she was not responding and not breathing — both signs of cardiac arrest.

One person ran to get the automated external defibrillator, or AED, and asked AHA staffer Jessica McNeely to call 911. An AED is a device that can detect abnormal heart rhythms and deliver an electric shock to reset an effective heartbeat.

Cindy Keely

After calling EMS, McNeely urged CPR instructor Cindy Keely to come to the conference room to help. Keely, a Mission Lifeline director at AHA, had done “thousands of resuscitations” as a respiratory therapist before joining the AHA two years ago.

Cheryl Camacho

Keely ran to the conference room to find Cheryl Camacho, vice-chair of the ECC regional volunteer committee from Washington, D.C., attaching the AED leads to the woman’s chest.

“I can’t let this woman die,” Keely recalled thinking.

She began doing chest compressions, only pausing for the AED to analyze the heart rhythm. The AED advised that a shock was needed.

Ray Whatley, a paramedic from Alexandria, Virginia, pressed the shock button after making sure no one was touching the patient. Keely resumed chest compressions immediately after the shock and Camacho relieved her.

About the time emergency responders arrived, the woman began breathing and coughing. The entire episode lasted about 3-5 minutes, Keely said.

“The AED was paramount,” Keely said. “Without the AED, I don’t know if we would have gotten her back right away.”

By the time the woman reached the emergency room, she was “totally with it,” according to EMS reports. She told EMS workers, “Please let them know that I’m OK and please don’t let them cancel the meeting because of me.”

“She was still living the mission and wanting us to carry on,” Keely said.

The woman is receiving further care at the hospital, according to AHA staff.

“This was a team effort – myself along with the volunteers providing immediate care, having and using the AED, as well as the quick response by local EMS and fire departments,” Keely said. “I am humbled by the experience and aiding in this person’s survival.”

More than 356,000 Americans each year have a cardiac arrest outside a hospital. Receiving immediate CPR during a cardiac arrest can double or even triple survival rates, according to statistics from the American Heart Association.